Network service restoration-on-demand

ABSTRACT

A method of establishing a first network connection of a wired network with a customer premise equipment (CPE) installed at a customer premise (CP). The method monitors the first network connection and detects an outage of the first network connection. The method provides an option of using a second network connection of a wireless network, for delivery of services during the first outage of the first network connection. The method receives a response, and switches the delivery of services, via a machine to machine (M2M) interface in the CPE, to the second network connection.

BACKGROUND

Modern communication systems involve a delicate interplay of networkcomponents that support services such as voice and data. These systemsare vital to business operations, such that downtime imposes asignificant cost to the business. Ensuring that networks are performingto their architected availability at a customer premise (CP), deliveringnetwork services at the CP according to the service level agreement(SLA), and mitigating the risk of downtime are the major priorities of anetwork service provider. Moreover, the impact of network failures,including very minor ones lasting only minute, can be measured inthousands or even millions of dollars. As such, the ability to quicklyidentify network connection faults and restore network connectivity arecritical to helping companies meet and exceed their business objectives.

Consequently, providing an automatic fail over service with a backupnetwork connection at the CP, during a primary network outage, stemmingfrom natural calamities, network component failure, cable cuts areneeded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example environment in which systems and/ormethods described herein may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example components of a device that may beutilized in the environment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a flow-chart diagram of example processes executed by anetwork server to restore network services according to one or moreimplementations described herein;

FIG. 3B is a flow-chart diagram that illustrates the steps executed by anetwork server when a customer has pre-subscribed to an automaticfail-over service according to one or more implementations describedherein;

FIG. 3C is a flow-chart diagram that describes the steps executed by anetwork server when a customer does not purchase restoration-on-demandservice according to one or more implementations described herein;

FIG. 3D is a flow-chart diagram that illustrates the steps executed by anetwork server when a customer purchases restoration-on-demand serviceupon receiving the option to purchase the service according to one ormore implementations described herein;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of example customer premise equipment that maybe utilized in the environment of FIG. 1;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same labels and/or reference numbers in different drawings mayidentify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detaileddescription does not limit the invention.

In one or more implementations, devices may be used to control thedelivery of services at a customer premise via a customer premiseequipment (CPE) using wired or cellular network.

The term “delivery of services,” or “service delivery” as used herein,is to be broadly interpreted to include data flow from a remote serverto a CPE via a wired or a cellular network. The delivery of services maycomprise delivery of compressed, uncompressed and/or encoded audio data,compressed, uncompressed and/or encoded video data, or other multimediadata, and may also include text, program code, data files, etc. Thedelivery of services on a wired network may between an enterprise andits cloud servers via a high-speed link such as a T-carrier or E-carrierelectrical service over a wired network or a Sonet or other optical dataservice over an optical network. In another example, delivery ofservices may be over optical Ethernet and/or another optical orelectrical wired network connection that may utilize cable network ortelecom connections such as an Ethernet R345/Category 5 connection, afiber connection, a traditional phone wire-line connection, or anotherwired network connection. Alternatively, the delivery of services may bebetween a consumer and a cable television carrier, offering Internetservices via an electrical or optical cable television connection.

Within a cellular network for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE)network, delivery of services may permit data flow from a server or agroup of servers through one or more wireless nodes, for example, one ormore evolved node Bs (enBs) to serving devices such as, network devices,user devices without traversing higher layers of the LTE network. Itwill be appreciated, however, that delivery of services may beapplicable to networks other than LTE. In this regard, the term“network,” as used herein, is intended to be broadly interpreted toinclude a wired or cellular network, for example, mobile network,cellular network and non-cellular network. By way of example, but notlimited thereto, delivery of services on a cellular network may beperformed in a variety of network types, such as, a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network, a Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS) network, a Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA) network, an Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB)network, a High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network, a WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) network, an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.X network, an EvolutionData Optimized (EV-DO) network, and/or another type of cellular network.

Depending on the type of network, service delivery may be performed bywireless nodes not specifically described herein that providecorresponding functionality. By way of example, delivery of servicecontent may be performed by a base station (BS), a base stationcontroller (BSC), an eNB, a network access device, a serving GPRSsupport node (SGSN), etc.

Wired network may include a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a telephone network,such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), an intranet or acombination of networks. In one implementation, a wired network mayinclude a Class 5 domestic switching network that provides services,such as basic dial-tone, calling features, and additional digital anddata services to subscribers via local exchange carriers (LECs). Inanother implementation, the wired network may include other domesticswitching networks, such as a Signaling System 7 (SS7) network, anIntegrated Services for Digital Network (ISDN) and/or combinations ofwired networks.

Although wired network connections are typically very reliable, serviceoutages cannot be avoided. Depending on the geographic location and theservice level which has been purchased, a service outage can last for afew hours up to a couple of days. Particularly, for force majeure eventssuch, as floods or storms, the duration of the outage cannot bepredicted.

One way to improve the service up-time is to provide redundancy service,for example, a backup cellular and/or a backup wired network connection,to the customer site. During a sales initiation process of a networkconnection, customers may not be aware of the risks and consequences ofrelying on a single wired connection. Often, customers consider theextra costs for the redundancy service too high, and therefore, decideto accept the single wired network connection to their sites.

However, the network service provider may provide a solution to thosecustomers who are not willing to contract up-front for network serviceredundancy. This solution is to allow the customer to purchaserestoration-on-demand service, immediately upon the occurrence of aservice outage. That is, the customers have the option to continue touse the network services via a dynamically provided redundant networkconnection even though they have not subscribed to use such aconnection. This is beneficial not only for the customers but also forthe network service provider because it potentially relieves the burdenof rushing the repair of the wired network connection.

The network service provider may deploy the redundancy service at theCP, by implementing Machine to Machine (M2M) technology, in whichintegrated wireless transmitters/receivers are included in autonomousoperating equipment. This is analogous to the way laptop computers arebeing designed with many interfaces, such as Wi-Fi, memory slots, USB,Firewire, analogue PSTN modem, SATA, R345-Ethernet, HDMI, etc.

In some embodiments of this invention, a CPE, such as a set top box, ora network device, for example, a modem or switch, may include anintegrated M2M interface that uses wireless service.Restoration-on-demand may be available wirelessly in cases where the M2Minterface connects to a wireless access service and provides thecustomer with services that fulfill the terms and conditions of the SLA.For example, the bandwidth and latency of the M2M connection may besimilar to that of the primary wired network service, or at least at apreviously agreed-upon lower quality. The M2M interface may be disabledunder normal operating conditions when the service is provided by thewired network connection. The CPE that includes the M2M interface, caneither be customer owned, or network-operator-owned. When the primarynetwork experiences an outage, the user may receive network services viathe network device that includes the M2M interface via the backupcellular network. In another implementation, a user device, itself, suchas a laptop, or a mobile device, may include the M2M interface andfacilitate the redundant service.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies are becoming more and moreimportant to businesses. Traditionally, many networked M2Mcommunications have utilized the public switched telephone network(PSTN). More recently, M2M communications have begun to usecommunication services offered by public mobile wireless communicationnetworks. For example, M2M communications may take advantage of deployedcellular networks based on Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)technologies such as GSM), UMTS, LTE, and/or other technologies such asthose developed by 3GPP2 and the IEEE. The M2M interface may also useother technologies such as WiMAX, fourth-generation (4G) LTE andlater-defined wireless data communications standards. As such, M2M mayrefer to technologies that allow wireless systems to communicate withother devices.

As described below, network operators may employ M2M technologies at aCP to provide customers with restoration-on-demand network services. Forexample, during a network connection outage, the customer may receive anotification, from an automation engine server, that a trouble tickethas been created for the network outage and the network carrier isworking on resolving the issue. As described above, depending on thereason for the outage, this can take a few hours up to a couple of daysor even weeks if, for example, a force majeure situation, such as ahurricane or an earthquake has occurred. The automation server mayfurther determine that the customer has not subscribed to an automaticredundancy fail-over service. The automation server may then send amessage to the customer asking if he would like to receive restorationservice for the site. This could be, for example, offered via a networkservice provider portal, a Smart-Phone Application that is being used atthe customer site, or an email with the appropriate return instructionsfor the customer to indicate whether he wants to restore his networkservices. If the customer accepts the offer for restoration-on-demand,the carrier activates a backup cellular service via the M2M interface.The restoration confirmation may be associated with the acceptance ofthe charges to restore the service. In another example, the backupservice may be another wired network connection that is activated by thecarrier via another M2M interface. It is contemplated that, the primarynetwork connection may be a cellular and/or a wired network connectionand the backup network connection may be another cellular and/or anotherwired network connection.

With reference to FIG. 1, in one implementation, network environment 100may include cellular network 130 that operates according to 3G or 4Gmobile telecommunications standards. In another implementation, network130 may be an evolved packet system (EPS) that includes a LTE networkand/or an evolved packet core (EPC) that operates based on a 3GPP or 4Gwireless communication standard. The LTE network may be a radio accessnetwork (RAN) that includes one or more small base stations that takethe form of ends. The EPC may include serving gateway (SGW) 131, mobilemanagement entity (MME) 133, and/or packet data network gateway (PGW)135 that enable user equipment (UE) devices 170 to receive networkservices (e.g., from remote server 140), using unicast/multicasttransmissions, and/or an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem(IMS) core (not shown).

SGW 131 may include one or more computation or communication devicesthat gather, process, search, store, and/or provide information in amanner described herein. SGW 131 may include one or more data processingand/or traffic transfer devices, such as a gateway, a router, a modem, aswitch, a firewall, a network interface card (NIC), a hub, a bridge, aproxy server, an optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM), or some other typeof device that processes and/or transfers traffic. In one exampleimplementation, SGW 131 may aggregate traffic received from one or morebase stations associated with the LTE network, and may send theaggregated traffic to the automation engine server 110 (e.g., via PGW135) and/or other network devices associated with the EPC. SGW 131 mayalso receive traffic from the other network devices and/or may send thereceived traffic to network devices 180 and UE device 170 via basestation. SGW 131 may perform operations associated with handing-off UEdevices 170 from and/or to other base stations in the LTE network.

MME 133 may include one or more computation or communication devicesthat gather, process, search, store, and/or provide information in amanner described herein. For example, MME 133 may perform operationsassociated with handing off UE device 170, from one base station toanother. The MME may also interface with the authentication,authorization and accounting (AAA)/home subscriber service (HSS) server137 to provide authentication, authorization and accounting services forthe network 130.

PGW 135 may include one or more computation or communication devicesthat gather, process, search, store, and/or provide information in amanner described herein. PGW 135 may include one or more data processingand/or traffic transfer devices, such as a gateway, a router, a modem, aswitch, a firewall, a NIC, a hub, a bridge, a proxy server, an OADM, orsome other type of device that processes and/or transfers traffic. Inone example implementation, PGW 135 may include a device that aggregatestraffic received from one or more SGWs, and may send the aggregatedtraffic to automation engine server 110, to other network devices. Inanother example implementation, PGW 135 may receive traffic fromautomation engine server 110, and may send the traffic toward otherservers and/or one of the network devices 180 via SGW 131.

HSS/AAA server 137 may include one or more devices that gather, process,search, store, and/or provide information in a manner described herein.For example, HSS/AAA server 137 may manage, update, and/or store, in amemory associated with HSS/AAA server, profile information, associatedwith UE device 180, that identifies applications and/or services thatare permitted for and/or accessible by UE device 170; informationassociated with a user of UE device 170 (e.g., a username, a password, apersonal identification number (PIN)); rate information; minutesallowed; and/or other information.

Moreover, HSS/AAA server 137 may gather, process, search, store, and/orprovide an SLA related to a user of a CPE. Additionally, oralternatively, HSS/AAA server may perform authentication, authorization,and/or accounting operations associated with a communication sessionwith UE device 170. MME 133 may receive authorization from HSS/AAAserver 137, in response to a request from UE device 170, before MME 133creates and stores a context for UE device 170.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of example components of a device 200 according toone or more implementations described herein. In certainimplementations, a portion or all of device 200 may correspond to one ormore of the devices depicted in FIG. 1. For example, device 200 maycorrespond to UE device 170, SGW 131, MME 133, PGW 135, AAA/HSS server137, or automation engine server 110. Additionally, each of UE device170, SGW 131, MME 133, PGW 135, or automation engine server 110, mayinclude one or more devices 200 or one or more components of device 200and multiple ones of the UE device 170, SGW 131, MME 133, PGW 135, orautomation engine server 110 may be implemented in a single one of thedevices 200.

As depicted, device 200 may include bus 210, processor 220, memory 230,input device 240, output device 250 and communication interface 260.However, in other implementations, device 200 may include fewercomponents, additional components, different components, or differentlyarranged components than those illustrated in FIG. 2.

Bus 210 may include one or more component subsystems and/orcommunication paths that enable communication among the components ofdevice 200. Processor 220 may include one or more processors,microprocessors, data processors, co-processors, network processors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), controllers,programmable logic devices (PLDs), chipsets, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), or other types of components that may interpret orexecute instructions or data. Processor 220 may control the overalloperation, or a portion thereof, of device 200, based on, for example,an operating system, and/or various applications. Processor 220 mayaccess instructions from memory 230, from other components of device200, or from a source external to device 200 (e.g., a network or anotherdevice).

Memory 230 may include memory and/or secondary storage. For example,memory 230 may include random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, or someother type of memory. Memory 230 may include a hard disk (e.g., amagnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optic disk, a solid statedisk, etc.) or some other type of computer-readable medium, along with acorresponding drive. The memory 230 may include computer-readablemedium, defined as a non-transitory memory device. A memory device mayinclude data storage elements within a single physical memory device orbe spread across multiple physical memory devices.

Input device 240 may include one or more components that permit a userto input information into device 200. For example, input device 240 mayinclude a touch-screen, keypad, a button, a switch, a knob, fingerprintrecognition logic, retinal scan logic, a web cam, voice recognitionlogic, a touchpad, an input port, a microphone, a display, or some othertype of input component. Output device 250 may include one or morecomponents that permit device 200 to output information to a user. Forexample, output device 250 may include a display, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), an output port, a speaker, or some other type of outputcomponent.

Communication interface 260 may include one or more components thatpermit device 200 to communicate with other devices or networks. Forexample, communication interface 260 may include some type optical,wireless or wired interface. Communication interface 260 may alsoinclude an antenna (or a set of antennas) that permit wirelesscommunication, such as the transmission and reception of radio frequency(RF) signals in accordance with the applicable standard for wirelesscommunications with base stations.

As described herein, device 200 may perform certain operations inresponse to processor 220 executing software instructions contained in acomputer-readable medium, such as memory 230. The software instructionsmay be read into memory 230 from another computer-readable medium orfrom another device via communication interface 260. The softwareinstructions contained in memory 230 may cause processor 220 to performone or more processes described herein. Alternatively, hardwiredcircuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions to implement processes described herein. Thus,implementations described herein are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software.

With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, network 100 includes network deviceor a CPE 180 (referred to collectively herein as network devices or CPEs180 and individually as network device or CPE 180) that includes a M2Minterface, for example, a wireless transceiver 465. The CPE may alsoinclude, a processing unit 420, and an antenna 410. The example CPE 180shown in FIG. 4 also includes a modem or switch 450 that is coupled tothe wired network 120 and a communications interface 430 that is coupledto the local network 190 in the customer premises. During normaloperation, the CPE 180 provides data communication services to the localnetwork 190 through the communications interface 430. When the wirednetwork 120 experiences an outage, the CPE 180 switches or is switchedto decouple the modem/switch 450 from the communications interface 430and to couple the wireless transceiver 465, as indicated by the dashedline 435.

The transceiver 465 provides two-way wireless communication ofinformation, such as digital message information, in accordance with thetechnology of the mobile communication network 130. For example, thetransceiver 465 sends and receives a variety of signaling messages insupport of data services provided via the mobile communication network130. In this example, the transceiver 465 is configured for RFcommunication in accord with a digital wireless protocol, such as the3GPP and LTE (including WIMAX) protocols. Transceiver 465 connectsthrough RF send and receive amplifiers (not separately shown) to itsantenna 410. Processing unit 420 processes controls the configuration ofthe CPE 180 the information and data to be sent and collected by thewireless transceiver.

Although the CPE 180 is shown as including both the modem/switch 450 andthe wireless transceiver 465, it is contemplated that it may onlyinclude a communications interface 430, processing unit 420 and wirelesstransceiver 465. In this implementation, the CPE 180 is inactive duringnormal network operation and is activated during an outage of the wirednetwork 120 to provide data communication services. It is furthercontemplated that the CP 150 may include two CPEs 180, for example,where one of the CPEs is connected to the cellular network 130 (andincludes only the wireless transceiver 465) and the other CPE isconnected to the wired network 120.

The network devices 180 are generally at fixed remote locations, forexample, at a home or apartment or at a customer premise (CP) such as,commercial/industrial establishment 150. To enable the communication ofdata for the network devices 180, each such device includes (or isattached to) a wireless transceiver, as described above. Accordingly,each network device provides network access capability, in this example,to the cellular network 130.

In one implementation, CP 150 includes a physical switch 160, coupled tothe processing unit 420 of the CPE 180 that allows a user at the CP 150to manually enable or disable the M2M interface in the CPE 180. Thenetwork device 180 may be connected to the switch 160. The switch 160may be operated by a customer at the CP, during an emergency, forexample. To enable communication at the CP, through the cellularcommunication network 130, the customer may turn on the switch 160, toenable delivery of services via network device 180.

In another implementation, the switch 160 may be integrated with thenetwork device 180. It is contemplated that, the switch may be operatedby an operator or a customer for the activation of therestoration-on-demand service, independent of any communication with theUE devices 170.

As described above, wired network 120 may be a wide area network (WAN).For example, network 120 may include broadband access technologiesincluding digital subscriber line (DSL), Fiber Optic Services (FiOS®)(FiOS is a registered trademark of Verizon Communications Inc.) cablethat connects UE devices 170 to real-time content services of remoteserver 140. Alternatively, wired network 120 may include Ethernet overtwisted-pair technologies, coaxial cable or Sonet over an optical fibernetwork, or T-Carrier service for example, over 10BASE-T or 1000BASE-Tconnections.

In one example, remote server 140 includes a content provider. Forexample, remote server 140 may include business related content, such asbusiness programs and data for a business or an enterprise. In anotherexample, remote server 140 may include free television broadcastproviders (e.g., local broadcast providers, such as NBC, CBS, ABC,and/or Fox), for-pay television broadcast providers (e.g., TNT, ESPN,HBO, Cinemax, CNN, etc.), and/or Internet-based content providers (e.g.,YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu, Veoh, etc.) that stream content from websites and/or permit content to be downloaded at a home of a residentialarea.

As shown in FIG. 1, the example network environment 100 may include UEdevices 170-1, 170-2 (referred to collectively herein as UE devices 170and individually as UE device 170). UE device 170 may include anycomputation or communication device, such as a wireless mobilecommunication device that is capable of communicating with base stationand, through the base station with the automation engine server 110.Examples of the UE device 170 include a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, desktop computer, local server, radiotelephone, a personalcommunications system (PCS) terminal (e.g., that may combine a cellularradiotelephone with data processing and data communicationscapabilities), a personal digital assistant (PDA) (e.g., that caninclude a radiotelephone, a pager, Internet/intranet access, etc.), asmart phone, a camera, a personal gaming system, or another type ofcomputation or communication device including mobile devices. UE device170 may send traffic to and/or receive traffic from remote server 140via the wired network 120. The UE devices are programmed withapplications (Apps) that access content via wired and/or cellularnetwork. An example UE device 170 may have multiple Apps running at agiven time and, thus, may access multiple network services or contentsat the same time.

It is contemplated that data communications that flow to and from CPE180, UE devices 170 at the CP 150 to the automation engine server 110and/or remote server 140 may traverse different data planes, such as anetwork control data plane and a user data plane, based on a type ofdata that is being communicated. For example, data that is related tocontrol functions in the network 100 may traverse the network controldata plane. On the other hand, user-related data may traverse the userdata plane in the network. In one example, data is communicated over theuser data plane, when a user of the UE device 170 at the CP 150 receivesdata services from the remote server 140 via either the wired network120 or the cellular network 130. Whereas, data is communicated over thenetwork control data plane, when the automation engine server 110, forexample, interrogates or controls the CPE 180 via the wired networkconnection 120 or the cellular network connection 139.

With reference to FIG. 1, it is further contemplated that the networkcontrol data plane may always be enabled for a network connection,however, the user data plane may be disabled initially and enabled at alater time based on user-related traffic. For example, the networkcontrol data plane of the cellular network connection 139 may be enabledat all times by the automation engine server 110, so that the automationengine 110 may poll the CPE 180 via the network connection 139. Thisallows the engine 110 to continually monitor the health of the networkconnections. The network control data plane may also be used by theautomation engine server 110 to send a network outage notification. Theuser data plane of the network connection 139, however, may only beenabled when the user chooses to receive user services from remoteserver 140, upon selecting the restoration-on-demand service. Moreover,enabling the user data plane may include setting up a virtual privatenetwork or an internet protocol (IP) session within the network. Also,if the user has pre-selected the restoration-on-demand service, it iscontemplated that the IP session may be pre-provisioned in the cellularnetwork 130.

As such, it is also contemplated that the M2M interface may be enabledfor the network control data plane at all times, however, the M2Minterface may be enabled for the user data plane only when there is aprovision for user related traffic.

Example CP 150 may also include a local network 190. In oneimplementation, the local network 190 is a Wi-Fi network. For example,as shown in FIG. 1, the local network 190 may link the UE device 170-1and other UE devices (not shown) wirelessly. In yet another example, thelocal network 190 links the UE device 170-2 and other UE devices (notshown) via a wired connection. Local network 190 may receive informationfrom network 120 and/or network 130 via CPE 180. Local network 190 mayalso provide firewall functionality for CP 150, such as packet filteringand protection against network attacks.

As shown in FIG. 1, the example network environment further includes anautomation engine server 110. Automation engine server 110 includes oneor more devices that gather, process, search, store, and/or provideinformation to control network services over wired and cellular networksin a manner similar to that described herein. In one example, Automationengine server 110 may be included in the network of a service provider.

In one example, automation engine server 110 stores software or logicassociated with monitoring of the health of network connections, remotenetwork outage detection and restoration. Automation engine server 110detects, retrieve, and/or processes alerts in order to detect an outage,determine that an outage event has occurred, isolate faults and/orcustomer site locations associated with an outage, and/or detect whenthe network connection has been restored and/or a network outage eventhas been remedied. Automation engine server 110 may further communicateand/or consult with billing and AAA/HSS servers 137 to determine acharge for restoration-on-demand and further charge a customer accountaccording to the service level agreement. The pricing and variouscharges related to the different services provided in the SLA, may beinitially provided to the customer in a contract during the salesprocess of the network connection.

Automation engine 110 may establish a connection with a CPE (e.g.,network device 180) via wired network 120. The automation engine server110 may poll the network device 180. That is, the automation engineserver 110 may periodically send queries to the network device 180 viathe wired network 120 to determine the operational status of the device.This status information may be stored by the automation engine server110.

In one implementation, a customer at CP 150 may receive networkservices, such as programs and data from remote server 140 via thenetwork device 180 using wired network 120. Automation engine server 110may monitor the quality of the network services, such as the bandwidth,packet delay of the streaming content and, further control the qualityof the network services according to a SLA associated with the customer.

SLAs may include a customer's network subscription information (e.g.,subscription to: the type of network connection, fail-over service,preferred quality of the network service, restoration period of anetwork connection). In one example, SLA may also include features andoptions related to the restoration-on-demand service, such as:bandwidth/capacity (data bundles), pre-paid subscription, quality ofservice, number of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) connections, etc. The SLA may further include applicationprograms provided by or filtered from the restoration-on-demand service.For example, essential programs such as web browsing programs orbusiness email may be provided in the restoration-on-demand service,however, non-critical programs, such as private email, Facebook®, onlinegames may not be included in the restoration-on-demand service.

Automation engine server 110 may consult servers, such as AAA/HSSservers 137 to locate the respective SLA of a customer. Alternatively,automation engine server 110 may store SLAs for the customers and mayretrieve the SLAs for monitoring and controlling of the networkservices.

Automation engine server 110 may be configured to detect an outage ofthe wired network connection 120. For example, automation engine server110 may not receive a response to queries for status updates from thenetwork device 180 via wired connection 120. As such, the automationengine server 110 may then determine that the wired network connection120 has failed. In another implementation, the automation engine server110 may receive indication, from the remote server 140, that the networkservices cannot be provided to UE 170 at the CP 150 through wirednetwork connection 120. As such, automation engine server 110 may thendetermine that the wired network 120 is experiencing an outage.

Upon determining the outage of the wired network connection 120,automation engine server 110 may retrieve data relating to the SLA forthe CP (e.g., by consulting AAA server or by retrieving the SLA fromstorage) to identify a restoration period (e.g., 4 hours) of the wirednetwork connection 120.

In addition, automation engine server 110 may communicate with local andnational emergency servers (e.g., national hurricane center) todetermine if the likely cause of the outage is a weather event. Based onthe cause of the outage, automation engine server 110 may furtherestimate the required time to restore the wired network connection 120.Alternatively, automation engine server 110 may consult a database(stored in the automation engine server 110) that stores history ofmultiple outages and their corresponding responding periods to determinethe restoration period for a network outage. In one example, automationengine server 110 may determine that an outage of wired networkconnection 120 has likely been caused by a major hurricane, and therestoration period for such an event is 48-72 hours (i.e., longer thanthe restoration period provided in the SLA). In another example,automation engine server 110 may determine that an outage of wirednetwork connection 120 has likely been caused by a lighting strike, andthe restoration period for such an event is 1-2 hours (i.e., shorterthan the restoration period provided in the SLA). Automation engineserver 110 may be further configured to compare the restoration periodfor the wired network connection 120, provided in the SLA, with theactual repair period to update its statistics. Furthermore, automationengine server 110 may be configured to determine the extent of an outageand identify available and/or appropriate personnel for the repair ofthe network, as described below. In another example, automation engineserver 110 may analyze the bit error rate (BER) of the connection to thenetwork 120, the noise levels and/or the number of dropped packets, todetermine the cause and the type of the outage. Yet in another example,the automation engine server 110 may determine that the network outageis due to power failure at the CP 150. In this example, thedetermination made by the automation engine server 110 may be based uponnot receiving any response from the CPE 180 while polling the CPE 180via both the wired network 120 and the backup network 130. In such ascenario, the network provider may not be responsible for any penaltycharges for the network outage.

In some implementations, automation engine server 110 may be configuredto generate trouble-tickets for the restoration of the wired networkconnection. Trouble-tickets may include the nature of the outage and theservices needed to restore the network. In one example, the automationengine server 110 may send the trouble-tickets to other servers in orderto notify the appropriate personnel about the network outage, so thatrestoration work is initiated immediately. Immediate dispatch of theappropriate personnel for restoring the network connection within thestipulated restoration period is particularly important to the networkservice provider, because, any delay in the restoration process (e.g.,an amount of time beyond the restoration period provided in the SLA) mayforce the network provider to pay penalties to the customers.

Automation engine server 110 may be further configured to providenotification to the customer at the CP 150 about the outage of the wirednetwork connection 120. The notification may include the nature of theoutage, and the estimated repair time. Notification may be sent to theUE device 170. In one example, the notification may be send over thecellular network 130. Alternatively, Automation engine server 110 maysend the notification over a network connection of another networkservice provider.

In another implementation, notification may be sent to an operator of anetwork operations control center at the CP 150. The operator may be anauthorized personnel who is allowed to make decisions on behalf of thebusiness at CP 150. The operator may or may not be a user or a customerof the CP 150. In one example, the notification may include a messageindicating outage of the wired network connection 120 and may furtherinclude instructions on how to restore the services via the backupcellular connection 130 using CPE 180. The notification may be sent overthe network control data plane.

Particularly, automation engine server 110 may be configured to providevarious choices/options to the customer in relation to the restorationof the network services via the backup network connection (e.g.,cellular network 130). In one implementation, the choices and optionsmay be provided to the UE device 170.

For example, as discussed above, the automation engine server 110 mayprovide an option of restoration-on-demand, to the customer at the CP150. Restoration-on-demand may be provided upon determining that therestoration period of the wired network connection 120 is within therestoration period provided in the SLA. For example, as discussed above,for an outage, the restoration time of the wired network connection maybe 1-2 hours and the restoration period provided in the SLA may be 4hours. Automation engine server 110 may then provide the option to thecustomer to resume the network services (i.e., the services that thecustomer was receiving using the wired connection 120 prior to theoutage) via the cellular network connection 139 (i.e., the backupnetwork connection). In one example, automation engine server 110 maycheck the availability and bandwidth of the connection 139 to thewireless network 130 at the CP 150, prior to providing therestoration-on-demand option.

Automation engine server 110 may be configured to receive responses fromthe customer at the CP 150. In one example, a customer respond to therequest to provide the restoration-on-demand service using the UE device170. UE device 170 may have applications to make selections and send theresponse to the selections to the automation engine server 110. Forexample, the customer may select to pay for the restoration-on-demandoption and send the response to the automation engine server 110.

As described above, the request sent to the customer and responsereceived from the customer related to the restoration-on-demand servicemay traverse the network control data plane. Moreover, prior to sendingthe request to the customer, the automation engine server 110 may pollthe CPE 180 via the cellular network connection 139, over the networkcontrol data plane, to ensure that the cellular connection isfunctional. Once the customer selects the option of therestoration-on-demand service, automation engine server 110 enables theuser data plane, for example, by establishing a session between the CPE180 and the remote server 140 and further processes the billing relatedto the restoration-on-demand service.

In another example, the customer may purchase the restoration-on-demandservice from a location such at a store.

The example automation engine server 110 processes the selectionsreceived from the customers. For example, if the customer selects to buythe restoration-on-demand service, the automation engine server 110 maythen resume the network services by switching the CPE 180 to thecellular network connection 139. Resuming the network services mayinclude the automation engine server 110 automatically enabling the M2Minterface of the network device 180, so that the customer may resumereceiving the network services using the cellular network connection139. In another example, automation engine server 110 may process theselection of buying the restoration-on-demand service, and provide anotification to the customer at the CP 150 to manually enable the M2Minterface of the network device 180 (e.g., by actuating the switch 160).Moreover, the network device 180 may have a text warning stating thatactuating the switch 160 initiates a wireless restoration service andthat actuating the switch indicates the user accepts the charges forthis restoration.

In yet another example, upon processing the selection of therestoration-on-demand service, the automation engine server 110 maycommunicate with the billing server (not shown) to charge the account ofthe customer for using the cellular network connection 139 for thenetwork services, only during the restoration period provided in theSLA. If the repair period lasts longer than the restoration period,automation engine server 110 may not charge for any additional timebeyond the restoration period in the SLA. For example, restorationperiod provided in the SLA is 4 hours, and the outage period of thewired network connection 120 is 6 hours, the automation engine server110 may charge the customer account only for the first 4 hours, and notfor the additional 2 hours of network outage.

Automation engine server 110 may be configured to detect whether wiredconnection 120 has been restored and to disable the M2M interface of thenetwork device 180, once the wired network connection 120 is restored.Normal network services may then be provided by the wired networkconnection 120 at the CP 150.

In another example, automation engine server 110 may be furtherconfigured to determine that the outage period of the first networkconnection 120 is beyond the restoration period of the SLA and that thecustomer has not selected the restoration-on-demand service. However, toavoid penalty charges, a provider of services over the first networkconnection 120 may have configured automation engine server 110 toautomatically resume the network services via the cellular networkconnection 139 if a maximum restoration period, provided in the SLA, hasexpired or is about to expire. In this example, automation engine server110 may not charge the customer's billing account for usage of thecellular network connection 139, for the time that is beyond therestoration period stipulated in the SLA.

In one implementation, the automation engine server 110 may beconfigured to poll the CPE 180 via the wired network 120 every 60seconds and the restoration period provided in the SLA may be 4 hours.In this implementation, if the automation engine server 110 polls for 3hours and 57 minutes during the outage of the wired network 120, anddoes not receive any response from the CPE 180 during that period, theautomation engine server 110 may enable the user data plane of thecellular network connection 139. Hence, the calculation of the outageperiod of the wired network 120 may be based on the polling period ofthe wired network 120. Moreover, business rules and policies that areset forth by a network administrator of the network provider concerningthe calculated outage period and SLA, may be consulted by the automationengine server 110 to enable and/or disable billing of the customer forthe appropriate usage of the network resources.

It is contemplated that, apart that the customer being given a choice ofwhether to restore the service immediately upon a service outage, anadditional benefit of the restoration-on-demand is that there will befewer breaches of the SLA commitment to the customer after restorationperiod has passed. It is further contemplated that this will have apositive effect on the overall customer satisfaction.

Yet in another example, the automation engine server 110 may beconfigured to determine that a customer has pre-selectedrestoration-on-demand services as a fail-over service. In such ascenario, during an outage of the wired network connection 120, theautomation engine server 110 may automatically resume the networkservices by switching to the cellular network connection 139 byautomatically enabling the M2M interface of the network device 180.

FIG. 3A is a high level flow chart 300 that describes various choicesthat may be provided to a customer in relation to therestoration-on-demand service and the example processes that areexecuted by the automation engine server 110 in response to theselections made by the customer, according to one or moreimplementations described herein.

In detail, FIG. 3B discloses example steps performed by the automationengine server 110 when a customer has pre-subscribed to an automaticfail-over service. In another example, FIG. 3C illustrates the stepsexecuted by the automation engine server 110 when the customer receivesthe option to purchase the restoration-on-demand service and decides notto purchase the service. Yet in another example, FIG. 3D illustrates thesteps performed by the automation engine server 110 when the customerdecides to buy the restoration-on-demand service upon receiving theoption to purchase the service.

With reference to FIG. 3A, at block 301, the automation engine server110 may determine that the time to restore the wired network connectionin the SLA is, for example, 4 hours (e.g., x=4 in FIG. 3). At block 302,the automation engine server of the network service provider may startthe incident process including generating a trouble ticket. At block303, the automation engine server 110 may determine whether the customerhas subscribed to redundancy. To do this, the automation engine server110 may consult the AAA/HSS server 137 to check the customer's profileor SLA for such a subscription. If the customer has subscribed to aredundancy service, at block 304, automation engine server 110 may issuea notification related to the outage of the wired network connection 120(e.g., causes for the outage and estimated time to restore the wiredconnection) to the customer. Further steps that are performed by theautomation engine server 110 in relation to the pre-subscription of theautomatic fail-over are described with reference to FIG. 3B.

Alternatively, at block 303, automation engine server 110 may determinethat the customer has not purchased network redundancy. As discussedabove, automation engine server 110 may perform the determination uponconsulting AAA/HSS server that stores profile and SLA information of thecustomer.

At block 310, automation engine server 110 may then generate and send anotification related to the outage of the wired network connection 120to the customer. For example, the notification may include a serviceidentification (e.g., a code that identifies repair of the wired network120), the nature of the outage (e.g., the types of services that aredown), and a repair time as disclosed in SLA (e.g., 4 hours to restorethe network services by repairing the wired network). In one example,the repair time may be indefinite if the outage was caused by a forcemajeure event. The notification may be sent to the user of the UE device170 or the customer to inform him of the estimated time to repair thewired connection.

Finally, at block 311, automation engine server 110 may provide thecustomer, via the UE device 170, with a choice to purchaserestoration-on-demand service. In another example, the automation engineserver 110 may provide the choice to an operator of a network operationscontrol center at the CP 150.

As mentioned above, FIG. 3B relates to the steps performed by theautomation engine server 110 upon determining that the customer haspre-subscribed to an automatic fail-over service at step 304 in FIG. 3A.At block 305, automation engine server 110 may determine whether theservice is operational. For example, the automation engine server 110may check whether the wired connection 120 or the cellular networkconnection 139 is operational, or both of the network connections areoperational. Particularly, the determination may include verifyingwhether the user data plane is enabled via at least one of the networkconnections, after checking the status of the cellular networkconnection 139 and the wired network connection 120. At block 306, theautomation engine 110 may initiate the restoration process of either thecellular connection or the wired network connection in order to restoreredundancy (i.e., the restoration of the secondary network connectionwhile the primary network connection is available). For example, theautomation engine server 110 may initiate the restoration process of thecellular network connection 139, upon determining that the cellularnetwork connection is out of service while the wired network connection120 is still operational. In another example, the automation engine 110determines an outage of the wired network connection 120 and initiatesthe restoration process of the wired network connection 120 while thecellular connection 139 is still operational.

In one implementation, automation engine server 110 may determine thatboth the cellular and the wired network connections are not operationaland the user data service may not be available via either of the networkconnections. As such, at block 307, the automation engine server 110 maysend notification of the outage (i.e., a complete outage when both ofthe cellular network connection and the wired network connections arenot operational) to the customer, via an operational communicationconnection such as a PSTN connection or another cellular connection thatis independent of the cellular network 139. It is contemplated that toensure the availability of both the network connections, the automationengine server 110 may poll the network connections while at least one ofthe network connections is operational, to identify and fix problemswith the non-operational connection, before it is needed.

At block 308, automation engine server 110 may begin to restore theprimary network service by either restoring the cellular connection orthe wired network connection (e.g., by sending trouble ticket to theappropriate personnel). The automation engine server 110 may thenfurther restore the redundancy service (i.e., the second networkconnection), as described above with reference to block 306. At block309, the automation engine server 110 may end the incident that wasstarted at block 302.

Further with reference to FIG. 3C, and as disclosed above, at block 311,automation engine server 110 may provide the customer, via the UE device170, with a choice to purchase restoration-on-demand service. In oneexample, the customer decides not to purchase the restoration-on-demandservice and sends the response back to the automation engine server 110.At block 312, automation engine server 110 receives and processes thecustomer's response to determine that the customer will not receive anynetwork service during the repair period or restoration period of thewired network 120 (e.g., 4 hours, as disclosed in SLA).

During the repair period of the wired network 120, automation engineserver 110 may periodically (e.g., every 10 minutes) poll the networkdevice 180 through the wired network 120. For example, at block 313, theserver 110 may poll the network device 180 beyond the repair period of 4hours. The automation engine server 110 may determine that the repairtime of the wired network has exceeded the restoring time as promised inthe SLA. As such, at block 314, automation engine server 110automatically enables the cellular network connection 139 (i.e.,restoration-on-demand service) for network services at the CP 150. Asdescribed above, the enabling the cellular connection 139 includesautomatically enabling the M2M interface of the network device 180, oralternatively, sending a notification to the customer to manually engagethe M2M interface of the CPE 180 using the switch 160. During this step,automation engine server 110 also notifies the billing server not tocharge the customer's account for the restoration-on-demand service.This may help the network service provider from paying penalties for notproviding network services beyond the repair time of the wired network120.

Alternatively, at block 313, automation engine server 110 may determinethat the repair time of the wired network is still within the restoreperiod of the SLA (i.e., within the 4 hour limit). As such, automationengine server 110 may not enable the restoration-on-demand service forthe customer.

At block 315, automation engine server 110 again checks whether thewired network connection 120 has been restored. If the wired networkconnection 120 is still not restored, the automation engine server 110branches back to determining the duration of the outage at block 313.

As discussed above, at block 315 the server 110 may check whether thewired network connection 120 has been restored. If the wired networkconnection 120 has been restored, automation engine server 110 mayfurther check, at block 316, if the cellular network connection 139 hasbeen enabled. At block 317, automation engine server 110 may disable thecellular network connection 139 and further issue a notification to thecustomer related to restoration of the wired network connection 120 atblock 318.

Alternatively, at block 316, automation engine server 110 may determinethat the cellular connection 139 was not enabled. This may be becausethe wired network was restored within the SLA repair time and thecustomer did not purchase the restoration-on-demand service. As such,the automation engine server 110 may then issue the notification, to thecustomer, related to the restoration of the wired network connection 120at block 318 and the process may end at block 309, as discussed above.

Further with reference to FIG. 3D, in one example, at step 311 uponreceiving the option, the customer may select to purchase therestoration-on-demand service while the wired network connection isdown.

As disclosed above, at block 311, the example automation engine server110 receives the response from the customer and, at block 319, enablesthe cellular network connection 139 at CP 150.

At block 320, similarly to block 305, the automation engine server 110may determine whether the network service is operational via at leastthe wired connection 120 or the cellular network connection 139.Particularly, the determination includes whether the user data plane isenabled via at least one of the network connections, after checking thestatus of the cellular network connection 139 and the wired networkconnection 120. In one example, the automation engine server 110 checksthe status of the cellular network connection 139. Upon determining thatthe cellular network connection is operational, automation engine server110, at block 321, communicates with the billing server to charge thecustomer's account for the restoration-on-demand service.

Similarly to block 313, at block 322, the automation engine server 110determines whether the repair time for the wired connection is within oroutside the SLA restore time. If it is determined that the repair timeof the wired connection has exceeded the restore time specified in SLA,the automation engine server 110, at block 323, may notify the billingserver to stop charging the customer's account for therestoration-on-demand service that started at block 321.

At block 324, the process is described which restores the wired networkconnection (e.g., upon generating trouble ticket and notifying the fieldstaff). Similarly to blocks 317 and 318, automation engine server 110then disables the cellular network connection and issues a notificationto the customer, at blocks 324 and 325, that the wired networkconnection, has been restored. The automation engine server 110 may endprocessing at block 309.

In another example, at block 322, automation engine server 110 maydetermine that the repair time for the wired network connection iswithin the restore time specified in the SLA and that the outage of thewired network connection has been resolved (block 327). Automationengine server 110 may then request the billing server to stop chargingthe customer's account for the restoration-on-demand service thatstarted at block 328 and end the process following the blocks 325, 326and 309, as described above.

Alternatively, at block 327, the automation engine server may determinethat the outage of the wired network connection 120 is not fixed and therepair time is still within the restoring period in SLA, the process maythen simply go back to block 322.

It is contemplated that a primary service may be the service that isprovided through the primary wired network connection 120 and asecondary service may be the service that is provided by the secondarycellular network connection 139. The secondary service may be enabled,for example, when the primary service fails, or based on various otherscenarios. However, if the secondary service fails, the primary servicemay be restored via the primary connection.

In one implementation, at block 320, the automation engine server 110may determine that both the cellular network connection 139 and thewired network connection 120 are not operational and may initiate therestoration of at least one of the network connections. For example, theautomation engine server 110 may start the restoration process of thecellular network and restore the cellular network (e.g., by generatingtrouble ticket and sending notification to the appropriate personnel)(block 329). Alternatively, the automation engine server 110 may restorethe wired network connection 120. As described above, when theconnection is restored, the automation engine server 110 enables theuser data plane via at least one of the network connections for thenetwork services.

Similarly to the block 322, at block 330, the automation engine server110 may determine whether the repair time of the wired network is withinor beyond the restore period in SLA. If the repair time is within therestore period, the process may loop back to block 320 and the timeexceeds the restore period the process continues to block 324, asdiscussed above.

It is noted that example programs shown in FIGS. 3A-3D may beimplemented in many different forms of software, firmware, and hardwarein the implementations illustrated in the figures. The actual softwarecode or specialized control hardware used to implement these aspectsshould not be construed as limiting. Thus, the operation and behavior ofthe aspects are described without reference to the specific softwarecode—it being understood that software and control hardware could bedesigned to implement the aspects based on the description herein.

Further, certain implementations may involve a component that performsone or more functions. These components may include hardware, such as anASIC or a FPGA, or a combination of hardware and software.

Aspects of the methods of providing restoration-on-demand servicedescribed above may be implemented in hardware or software. Programaspects of the technology may be thought of as “products” or “articlesof manufacture” typically in the form of executable code and/orassociated data that is carried on or embodied in non-transitory machinereadable medium. “Storage” type media include any or all of the tangiblememory of the computers, processors or the like, or associated modulesthereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, diskdrives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage at anytime for the software programming. All or portions of the software mayat times be communicated through the Internet or various othertelecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enableloading of the software from the memory of one computer or processorinto another. As used herein, unless restricted to non-transitory,tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer or machine “readablemedium” refer to any such medium that participates in providinginstructions to a processor for execution.

Non-volatile storage media include, for example, optical or magneticdisks, such as any of the storage devices in any computer(s) or thelike, such as may be used to implement the functions described above.Volatile storage media include dynamic memory, such as main memory ofsuch a computer platform. Common forms of computer-readable mediatherefore include for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, harddisk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD orDVD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards paper tape, any otherphysical storage medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM,a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge transporting data orinstructions, or any other medium from which a computer can readprogramming code and/or data. Many of these forms of computer readablemedia may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions to a processor for execution.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit disclosure of the possible implementations. In fact,many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recitedin the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although eachdependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one otherclaim, the disclosure of the implementations includes each dependentclaim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential to the implementations unlessexplicitly described as such. It will be understood that the terms andexpressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to suchterms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respectiveareas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwisebeen set forth herein. Relational terms such as first and second and thelike may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from anotherwithout necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationshipor order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,”“comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, as used herein,the article “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only oneitem is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Further,the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow.That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as isconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in theclaims when interpreted in light of this specification and theprosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural andfunctional equivalents. Notwithstanding, none of the claims are intendedto embrace subject matter that fails to satisfy the requirement ofSections 101, 102, or 103 of the Patent Act, nor should they beinterpreted in such a way. Any unintended embracement of such subjectmatter is hereby disclaimed.

Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated orillustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedicationof any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, orequivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recitedin the claims.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server comprising: at least one networkinterface, configured to support a first connection via a wired networkand to support a second network connection via a wireless network; and aprocessor coupled to the network interface configured to cause theserver to perform functions, including functions to: establish the firstnetwork connection with a customer premise equipment (CPE) installed ata customer premise (CP); control delivery of services via the firstnetwork connection to a user of the CPE; monitor the first networkconnection of the wired network; upon detection of a first outage of thefirst network connection, provide an option, to the user, of using thesecond network connection with the wireless network, for the delivery ofservices during the first outage of the first network connection;receive a first response from the user; and if the response accepts theoption, cause the CPE to switch the delivery of services, to the secondnetwork connection; and establish the second network connection with theCPE via the wireless network.
 2. The server of claim 1, wherein thefunction to monitor the first network connection includes a function toperiodically poll the CPE via the first network connection.
 3. Theserver of claim 1, wherein the function to switch the delivery ofservices further includes a function to cause the CPE to enable amachine to machine (M2M) interface in the CPE.
 4. The server of claim 1,further includes a function to determine that an estimated repair timefor restoring the first network connection is within a period of timeprovided in a service level agreement (SLA).
 5. The server of claim 4,further includes a function to request a billing server to charge abilling account of the user of the UE device, for the repair time of thefirst network connection, when the repair time is within the period oftime provided in the SLA, and further includes another function to sendanother request to the billing server to stop charging the billingaccount, when the repair time exceeds the period of time provided in theSLA.
 6. A customer premises device comprising: a communicationsinterface, configured to be coupled to a user equipment device, toprovide data communication services to the user equipment device; afirst network interface coupled to the communications interface and to afirst network connection with a first network to provide the datacommunications services with a remote server to the user equipmentdevice via a first network; a controller configured to receive aninstruction from a remote server, via the first network connection toenable the communications interface between remote server via the firstnetwork interface.
 7. The customer premises device of claim 6, whereinthe first network interface includes a wireless transceiver and thefirst network is a wireless network.
 8. The customer premises device ofclaim 6, further including: a second network interface coupled to thecommunications interface and to a second network connection with asecond network to provide the data communications services with theremote server to the user equipment via the second network; a thirdnetwork interface coupled to the communications interface and to a thirdnetwork connection with a third network to provide the datacommunications services with the remote server to the user equipmentdevice via the third network; wherein the third network is a wirednetwork; and the controller is further configured to switch thecommunications interface among the first network interface, the secondnetwork interface and the third network interface.
 9. The customerpremises device of claim 8, wherein: the first network interfaceincludes a wireless transceiver and the first network is a wirelessnetwork; and the second network is another wired network.
 10. Thecustomer premises device of claim 9, wherein the second networkinterface includes a modem.
 11. The customer premises device of claim 9,wherein the second network interface includes an optical switch and thesecond network is a fiber optic network.
 12. The customer premisesdevice of claim 8, wherein the controller is further coupled to a switchand activation of the switch causes the controller to switch thecommunications interface between the first network interface and thesecond network interface.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcarrying one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processorsof a server causes the one or more processors of the server to:establish a first network connection with a customer premise equipment(CPE) installed at a customer premise (CP); control delivery of servicesto a user of the CPE via the first network connection; monitor the firstnetwork connection; upon detecting a first outage of the first networkconnection provide an option, to the user, of using a second networkconnection with a second network for the services during the firstoutage of the first network connection; receive a first response fromthe user; and if the response accepts the option, cause the CPE toswitch to the second network connection; and establish the secondnetwork connection with the CPE via the second network.
 14. The computerreadable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause the oneor more processors of the server to monitor the first network connectionfurther include instructions that cause the one or more processors ofthe server to periodically poll the CPE via the first networkconnection.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein theinstructions that cause the one or more processors of the server tocause the CPE to switch to the second network connection furtherincludes instructions that cause the one or more processors of theserver to cause the CPE to enable a machine to machine (M2M) interfacein the CPE.
 16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein theinstructions that cause the one or more processors of the server todetect the first outage of the first network connection includeinstructions that cause the one or more processors of the server todetermine that an estimated repair time for restoring the first networkconnection is within a period of time provided in a service levelagreement (SLA) for the CP.
 17. The computer readable medium of claim16, further including instructions that, if the response accepts theoption, cause the one or more processors of the server to send a requestto a billing server to charge a billing account associated with the CP,for network services via the second network connection during the repairtime of the first network connection, while the repair time is withinthe period of time provided in the SLA, and further sending anotherrequest to the billing server to stop charging the billing account, whenthe repair time exceeds the period of time provided in the SLA.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 13, further including instructionsthat cause the one or more processors of the server to detect a secondoutage of the first network connection and provide a second option, tothe user, for using the second network connection for the servicesduring the second outage of the first connection by purchasingrestoration-on-demand service.
 19. The computer readable medium of claim18, further including instructions that cause the one or more processorsof the server to: receive a second response, from the user, indicating aselection for not resuming the services instantly over the secondnetwork connection upon rejection, by the user, to purchase therestoration-on-demand service, determine that a repair time forrestoring the first network is beyond a period of time provided in aservice level agreement (SLA); cause the CPE to switch to the secondnetwork connection; and establish the second network connection with theCPE via the second network.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim13, further including instructions that cause the one or more processorsof the server to: detect a third outage of the first network connectionand determine whether the user, pre-selected an option to resume thedelivery of services over the second network connection for anoccurrence of the third outage of the first network connection; causethe CPE, to switch to the second network connection; and establish thesecond network connection with the CPE via the second network.